Tag: sales leadership

It’s Easy to Do Things Poorly

Working with a variety of senior executives, sales managers and sales contributors on a daily basis provides me with many opportunities to observe how committed they are to success. What success means to me is that you must mind the details, communicate more exceptionally and do the extra work that makes the difference between average and top sales performance. It includes updating customer content and activities in CRM when you know that takes extra time and effort, always sending a brief but appreciative thank you message to a potential customer, or going the “extra mile” when a customer makes an unusual request.

In Sales, it’s easy to do things poorly.

Continue reading “It’s Easy to Do Things Poorly”

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How I Became a Top Sales Performer (Part 1)

Lesson 1: Sales is NOT about Selling

I am fortunate to have had a very successful sales career. But, it didn’t start out that way.  First I had to learn the most important lesson in sales:  Sales is NOT about selling.

Wait a minute! What do you mean, “Sales is not about selling”?

It’s not.

What I’ve learned as someone who has trained and managed a lot of sales people is that 99% of the things that you hear about sales when you get into it are simply wrong! Continue reading “How I Became a Top Sales Performer (Part 1)”

How I Became a Top Sales Performer (Part 2)

Sales people that properly organize and plan their sales efforts know how to analyze customer needs, and that results in more closed business!

They’re Not That Into You….

People need a reason to buy from you, and for the most part, you are not the reason they buy!

My experience starting out in sales was that most of the sales people I worked with sold under the assumption that the reason the customer bought the product was because it had great “features and benefits”.   Then one day, my sales manager said something to me I’ll never forget.  At that time I was selling computer equipment to big corporations.  He said, “Terry, a computer is nothing more than a furnace if the customer has no software to run on it!” Read More…

How I Became a Top Sales Performer (Part 3)

Darn it! You actually have to IMPLEMENT a sales process!

Sales Requires A Process

You cannot effectively sell without a process.  

I  no longer use Solution Selling (I went through a few other methods, like Strategic Selling, CustomerCentric Selling, and SPIN Selling) and I have come to the conclusion that selling methods are great for motivating sales people and for educating management about  the benefits of consultative selling techniques.  And then, darnit, you actually have to implement the stuff! Read More…

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